And the other argument raised routinely as to "who cares if it is a placebo" is that it denies the patient access to a treatment. Since ALL treatments are going to have placebo effects, the argument goes, how can it be in the best interest of the patients to provide belief alone (the placebo) when you can provide treatment effects AND placebo. I don't know Bob and have no reason to think ill of him but a lot of this insistence on using unsubstantiated or unsupported methods is just intellectual laziness and the general human condition. There are, of course, exceptions but the only ones that I've seen reasonable defense made for (treatments that have little evidence) are those associated with established belief systems and cultural histories. I do believe that any implication that therapists are "bad people" are equally implausible, btw. The old saying about paving roads states that clearly enough. :) One of my favorite quotes is the one about some of the scientific community having faith in the scientific method that "Borders on irrationality". I thought science WAS anti-rational ;)(I know what they mean but I needed to inject a little humor this morning). Tim
_________________________________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Albertson College of Idaho 2112 Cleveland Blvd. Caldwell, ID 83605 [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: History and systems; Intro to Neuropsychology; Child Development; Physiological Psychology; Psychology and Cinema -----Original Message----- From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 5:51 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: Being Critical Dr. Bob Wildblood wrote: > Some might raise the placebo issue, but I'm also one of those who says > that if all we get in therapy is a placebo effect, so long as the > individual's life is better for them, who cares? The people who have to pay for putatively "highly trained" personnel or for expensive equipment for an effect that could be gotten with sugar pills or (in this case) very basic relaxation techniques (or even finger tapping!). Regards, -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164 fax: 416-736-5814 http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ============================ . --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
